Autumn Begins As September Ends

It is still quite warm in Georgia, although the season has turned to autumn, officially. I saw an old FB post of mine that reported frost on the ground in Michigan at this time, and it sent me into some cognitive dissonance. I haven't needed as much as a sweatshirt yet.

We finished scoring the General Chemistry exams and handed them back this week. I think the results were good, an average of around 66% with several scores in the 90's. I had a couple of those in my "quick" section, but the other section had a high of 79, which tracks with my impression of the two sections. I offered the students participation points for coming to my office to go over their exams individually, and so I had a few days of constant visitors. I didn't remind them that they get participation points anytime they come to my office, and it did spur a few of the reluctant ones.

The other big event was in the Modeling and Problem Solving class. We finished the first Module this week. The deliverable for this Module is a scientific poster, and the students presented in teams during the class time on Thursday. We had a few visitors from the other sections and from last year's class. I think our group did well overall, and it was enjoyable to see them rise to the challenge. 

On Monday evening I went to the board game group. Tuesday I played cribbage, and won three out of nine games, so not as catastrophically bad as the previous two weeks have been. Thursday evening I met K & P for outdoor Oakhurst jazz night. They provided dinner and brought me two bottles of Founders Porter, not knowing that Founders comes from Grand Rapids. So I had a bittersweet moment of nostalgia when I first saw the familiar label. Friday I stayed on campus late to attend the first Theatre production of the year, A Respectable Wedding by Bertolt Brecht. One of the chemistry students had a part in it. I thought it was strange; it takes place at a wedding reception but the guests don't really get along and there was a lot of shouting and crying. I should have read about it before seeing it, I think, because I found it difficult to follow what was happening.

Saturday I got up early and went to Fort Yargo State Park for Georgia State Parks volunteer day. I had a five mile hike while collecting trash. Our ranger, Jake, gave a commentary on the plants and animals along the way. We saw many Joro spiders in their immense webs, as well as several kinds of mushrooms/fungus, and a tiny ring necked snake. There was evidence of beaver activity in the creek, too.

Our trash collecting crew on the trail.

After the hike, I explored more of the park. There is a reconstructed block house similar to the original fort, as well as some other period-appropriate buildings. I guess there are reenactors who come out sometimes to demonstrate trades there.

View of the lake from the fort.

I also checked out the beach recreation area after the man at the visitor center (of course I took this opportunity to get my parks passport stamped) told me it was just renovated. It was a very nice swimming beach. There was a little shop for snacks, a shower building, a disc golf course, pickleball courts, and a mini golf course. Even though it was hot, I played a round of mini golf.

Big beautiful beach!

After the park, I went to downtown Winder for lunch. I had a delicious crepe and grits, and then I walked a couple of blocks for pistachio ice cream. While I was in town, I took photos of the new Barrow County courthouse off the highway as well as the historic courthouse downtown. 

Historic Barrow County Courthouse in Winder, Georgia.

Next, I drove back through Lawrenceville and stopped at Slow Pour Brewing. This was the brewery I visited during my first interview trip in February 2024. I needed to check it off my Gwinnett County beer quest, so I spent a comfortable hour reading in their taproom while drinking an Oktoberfest marzen. Then I walked two blocks down the street to Third Rail Distillery (also on the Gwinnett County list) to get a bottle of their bourbon whiskey.

Last, I drove to Cumming and found the Forsyth County courthouse. Downtown Forsyth was very governmental. Not a lot of shops or restaurants, but several large administrative buildings. Also, very few people on foot. I took the requisite photos but that was all. There was a historical marker on the corner describing a lynching that took place in the county in 1912 and resulted in the county excluding Black folks for most of the 20th century. Not a very nice thought.

Forsyth County Courthouse in Cumming, Georgia.

I met my friend C in another part of Cumming so we could try Crooked Culture Brewing and have dinner together. I had a blueberry sour to begin with, then delicious supper, and finished with a kolsch before coming home at the end of a very long, active day.

Neptune Is Not A Blueberry (blueberry sour)

Today I've done laundry, made carrot soup, baked some bread, and washed dishes twice. One of the professors who lives near me had a small group of us over for brunch today, so I had a pleasant couple of hours on her porch conversing with other women faculty. When I got home I caught up on some work for classes, and then we had Family Meet. I finished my pre-tenure review portfolio as well! It felt very good to hit Send on the email to the tenure & promotion committee chairperson. That thing has been weighing on me all summer and I'm glad to be done with it, for awhile at least.

Semester Week 4

 The fourth week of the fall semester is typically when the first year students have their first exams, and it's generally a pretty difficult week for everyone. They don't know how to study, some of them have never needed to study, and yet they are all super anxious about exams. I had a seemingly endless line of General Chemistry students at my office on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. On top of working with my colleagues to write questions and put together the actual paper exam, I volunteered to organize the alternate time for those students who had "unavoidable conflicts" with our evening exam time. It was challenging to get a list so I knew what size room to use and how many copies to bring. I asked for names by the end of the day on Monday, but on Wednesday at 7 pm I was still getting emails "please, please, can I join the alternate time?" So I ended up with eight students at 8 am on Thursday. Of course, that was the day there was a car accident on the road just in front of my neighborhood that delayed me getting to campus by over ten minutes. Then I had my normal day and finished by giving the exam at the regular time (6 pm) and then spending an hour scanning the pages and separating them into stacks for scoring. I didn't leave campus until almost 9 pm.

Monday evening I was able to come home and cook pork chops with glazed carrots for dinner. That would have been nice except I received a summons for jury service in the mail.

I've only lived here 13 months!

The report date is October 13, which is the Monday of our fall break. We only get two days here, not a week like Aquinas had, and I have mixed feelings about spending my break at the county courthouse. On one hand, at least I won't miss any classes. On the other hand, I wanted to do something fun! I did try to reschedule but the county will only allow you to move the date a maximum of 3 weeks. I even emailed the clerk and asked if I couldn't reschedule for summer, or even the first week of January. The answer was a flat "no". So now I have to find someone to cover my classes (luckily only General Chemistry since FYS doesn't meet that week and I have a co-teacher for STM-101). Worse, that week is the second General Chemistry exam, so if I am chosen for a jury I might not be around for that (which some would consider a bonus, but I feel guilty).

Tuesday I played cribbage and had the worst night ever. Only one win out of nine games. It was pretty awful. Things can only improve, right?

Wednesday I stayed late at school to prepare materials for Thursday and Friday, since I had so many student visitors that I didn't get any work done in the usual hours.

Thursday evening was the exam, as already described.

Friday I went out for lunch with my colleague C because it was her birthday. We went to Fox Brothers BBQ (my third time) and I had the pulled pork sandwich with potato salad. Delicious. I went to my first Faculty Senate meeting to make my report as Chair of the committee, which was fine. The best part was that the meeting was in the Juvenile Reading Room in the library, and the room is actually full of children's books and DVDs (leftover from an early childhood program that no longer exists, they told me). While I was looking around, I found the fifth book in The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper that I've been reading this summer. The public library had the first four but not that one, so I checked it out on my way back to my office. I stayed on campus late again to get things ready for Monday. I stopped at Kroger on the way home, so it was even later when I reached my house. 

Saturday I spent the morning grading my page of the exam. I had Family Zoom which was just the parents and me. We discussed plans for Christmas at Katy's. I need to decide whether I'm going to drive or take Amtrak to Virginia. I'm attracted to the train trip: I would board in Atlanta at 11 pm and arrive in DC the following afternoon, so I could get the roomette and sleep most of the way (and it's less expensive than flying). But I'm also excited by the road trip opportunity. I've started a list of National Parks sites along the route and I discovered the Virginia only has 43 State Parks and there's a prize for visiting multiples of five of them (a checklist! hooray!). Plus, I might be able to visit Farmville and see friends there. But it is 650 miles each way, so I'd be driving for two days and need to stop overnight somewhere. Right now, I think road trip is winning. The parents are planning to get an AirBnB for the three of us, and it would be nice to have my own car while I'm there. I definitely want to take the Metro out to Reston now that I've seen Another Way of Living with the documentary film group. It's on the Silver Line that goes to Dulles airport; maybe I can get people to go with me to the Air & Space museum there and have a quick stop in Reston, too.

After that I had dinner and boardgames over Zoom with my GR friends. I made pizza. The crust turned out flat and hard again; I'm clearly doing something wrong. Maybe the flour is bad? Or the yeast? I let the refrigerated dough come to room temperature and it looked puffy and good until I rolled it out. Maybe I rolled it too much? I don't know why it isn't soft and bready like it used to be. I mean, it's still edible, but the texture isn't right.

Today I did other school work (preparing FYS for tomorrow and working on my portfolio) while baking banana bread and making vegan green bean casserole for the Sunday Assembly potluck. The casserole turned out very good; it's made with fresh mushrooms and great northern beans instead of Cream of Mushroom soup. I took Planet Unknown and played that with three guys. 

The other thing this week was I finally finished On the Spice Market. I did the bind off this afternoon while things were in the oven. I still need to weave in ends and block it, but today was really the first time I was able to spread it out and look at it. It took me almost exactly nine months and I think it turned out great!

Ta-Da! Finished at last!

Situation Normal

A normal week. I taught a bunch of classes and went to meetings, as usual. I was elected chairperson of the Curriculum Committee, unfortunately. I was trying not to be in charge of anything, but nobody else wanted the job either, and I figured it might help with my tenure case if I showed some leadership.

Monday night I went to the board game group, and there was only one other person there. But by the time I'd eaten my sandwich, two others had arrived. We played three games and it was quite enjoyable. 

Tuesday night I played cribbage, and not too well. I started off with two skunks and a regular win, but then I lost five games in a row to finish with only ten points. 

On Wednesday, I was treated to pizza lunch from the HR department for completing the summer wellness challenge. I logged the fifth-most time walking among employees. In addition to lunch, I received a stuffed Petey the Stormy Petrel for my office.

Petey the Stormy Petrel

Thursday night I went to book club and found a copy of Planet Unknown on the clearance table for only $10, so I bought it at the end of the night. The book discussion was good, too. 

It's a big box.

Friday night was documentary film night. Always enjoyable. We watched "Knock Down the House" which is about the 2018 House of Representatives races in which a bunch of women of color ran against established Democrats. Most of them lost, but it was a very interesting snapshot of those times. 

Also on Friday my Division held STEM Fest, when faculty present posters about our research and attract students to work with us. I had an old poster and had a number of visitors, mostly people from this year's General Chemistry class who were earning participation points, but a few from last year also came to say hello. I enjoyed a lovely King of Pops treat while talking to everyone. 

Me with an old poster

After that, the chemistry club decorated lab coats and I went to mooch pizza and admire their creativity.

Saturday morning I joined a Meetup group of women for Neighborhood Walks. We met at a tea shop near the Beltline. The group walked about a mile to Ponce City Market, then came back. I enjoyed talking to some of the women, especially one named Laura who is a science fiction fan, although her favorite author is Orson Scott Card. At the end of the walk we had a presentation from a women's wellness coach, and a raffle. I won a gift card to the tea shop, Just Add Honey, so I immediately went inside and used it to buy some Hibiscus and some Honeybush tea. The shop had seemingly everything and they also make tea drinks to go. 

A section of the Beltline. There were a lot of people there, so this is the only photo I took that wasn't crowded.

Outside Just Add Honey after the walk.

I haven't done a lot this weekend, otherwise. I swept the patio and read a lot of books. I had grading to finish, as well as the letter for my portfolio.

September Already

The second week of classes was as full as the first, even though it was a shortened week because of the Labor Day holiday on Monday. We had program meetings for FYS and the President's update, and I contributed a short presentation on Ascend for our faculty learning session. I had lots of meetings with students since my FYS section was required to have one-on-ones with me before Friday, and some of the students from my other classes also showed up.

On Thursday evening I met K and P in their new neighborhood in Decatur for a free outdoor jazz concert. They generously provided dinner and beer. I enjoyed the music, the time to catch up with friends, and the opportunity to see a new part of Atlanta.

Gwen and the band, Grits Bits.

Wednesday evening I attended the athletics pep rally on campus, Petey's Madness, where the fall teams were introduced. It was not as stiflingly hot as last year, and there was less pressure for faculty to attend. I only recognized one other faculty colleague there, although I did meet someone from the Advancement Office. After the team introductions, there was a silly relay race and then a 3-point shot contest. I did not snag any swag except a paper fan.

Our mascot, Petey the Stormy Petrel.

On Saturday I met the Sunday Assembly group for a walk in Sandy Springs. It was only about two miles on a paved path, and we stopped for beverages at a coffee house near the end. There were only three of us, so I was able to get to know them a little and it sounds like we have several interests in common (science, beer, books). After that, I went to my local public library to pick up my reward for reading 50 books so far this year. It was a nice mug, sticker, and bookmark. The theme is "100 Years, 100 Books" celebrating the 100 years of the library system and we earn a prize for every 25 books read. The Friends of the Library was doing their annual Lemonade Party (which I missed last year) so I attended that and signed up to be a Friend also.

My prize library mug.

I've spent my Sunday working on my review portfolio, which is due to my Chair this week. I think the letter, the main component, is done. I just need to assemble all the supporting materials, and Chair says she doesn't need to see that so I have a few weeks. I almost cannot believe that I'm going through the tenure process again; it was difficult enough the first time and I certainly had no wish to repeat it. But I believe changing jobs and coming here was the right thing to do, so here I am.

 

DragonCon

First week of class was great. I enjoyed meeting all my students, mostly first-years. They are anxious and squirrelly, but that's normal. We had Convocation on Thursday and it was a nice ceremony. I didn't take any good photos though. 

In other news, I gave away 55 books this summer through BookMooch. I'm trying to reduce the book collection, since so many are just packed in boxes and I don't have shelf space for them. There are still many to unpack and sort through, so this is an ongoing project. Likewise, I started selling the board games I don't play, and I sold 9 through BGG Marketplace this summer. The immediate result of all this is that I have a slightly larger clear space in the third bedroom. It's basically the size of one stack of boxes.

The most exciting part of the week was attending DragonCon. I was a volunteer at the Art Show, which earned me a free badge. I left school right after class on Friday to take MARTA downtown to check in before my first shift. I was stationed outside a breakout room, and my job was to count the people who entered the room. Not too hard, and I was able to listen to the band that played two hours. They were called Wasted Wine and I enjoyed their music.

Wasted Wine playing Friday afternoon.

When my shift ended, I had time to attend a panel. One of the other volunteers and I found the Volunteer Village area and took advantage of the free snacks and swag there. Then I found a Murderbot panel happening in the same hotel, and that turned out to be pretty good. After the panel I went home.

On Saturday I had a bunch of errands to run in the morning. I drove over to the Doraville MARTA station after lunch and found it more full than I'd ever seen before. I had to park on level 4. I got downtown just in time for my shift, and this time I was stationed on one of the doors. My job was to check badges and turn away people with open food or drink containers. They let me have a radio and headset, although I never used it. Also outside the hall was a performance stage, so I was able to listen to the various bands all afternoon. It was really interesting to see all the people in costumes. Some gave me swag or ribbons.

One of the bands: the Dust Bowl Fairies.

At the door.

After the Saturday shift, I wandered back to Volunteer Village for a snack. Then I stood in line for 45 minutes for the Sixty-Minute Silmarillion, which was a panel retelling Tolkien's history of the First Age of Middle Earth. Very funny! Original songs and a slideshow. They said an older version is on YouTube, but I haven't looked for it.

Sunday I had school work to finish in the morning, and I went downtown after lunch again. I was allowed door duty again, which was equally fun. Afterwards, I was considering the Atlanta Symphony show, but the line was already extremely long, so instead I went to a Star Wars panel that turned out to be random people selected from the audience, reading awkward dialog from the films. It was very funny, and I only had to wait 30 minutes in line.

Droids outside the Star Wars area.

Monday was the last day of the Con. I went a little earlier, but not early enough. I thought I might get into the vendor hall, but the line was already too long. I had door duty again, but only for three hours. After the art show closed, we helped load out. 

The last band was Vicki's Dream, a heavy metal group. They were loud, but very good.

Big yellow carts to carry artists' stuff out the loading dock.

Before we left, volunteers got to choose a piece of donated art. I got a print called Lunar Bunnies. It was kind of a pain to carry home on the train, but I managed not to crease it or drop it.

My gift.

Since I spent so much time on trains, I finished my car book (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) and started another (The Elegance of the Hedgehog), which is helping me work through the enormous TBR list. Both of these books were acquired in 2021.